CX Institutional Sells 4,443 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CX Institutional lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,443 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,681,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,870,000 after purchasing an additional 617,900 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,567,000 after buying an additional 915,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $50.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.43 and a 200 day moving average of $44.23. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $51.40.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.90.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.